First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Competitors

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) and Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, valuation, earnings, risk and dividends.

Is FFBC or WBS a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Webster Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 39.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Webster Financial pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, FFBC or WBS?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Webster Financial has a beta of 1, meaning that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate FFBC or WBS?

First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus price target of $28.75, indicating a potential upside of 11.26%. Webster Financial has a consensus price target of $63.75, indicating a potential upside of 8.64%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Webster Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25
Webster Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, FFBC or WBS?

Webster Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Webster Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.53	$228.83M	$2.41	10.72
Webster Financial	$4.18B	2.36	$768.71M	$4.44	13.22

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in FFBC or WBS?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.6% of Webster Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Webster Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is FFBC or WBS more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 18.65% compared to Webster Financial's net margin of 18.58%. Webster Financial's return on equity of 10.57% beat First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	18.65%	10.44%	1.38%
Webster Financial	18.58%	10.57%	1.18%

Does the media favor FFBC or WBS?

In the previous week, Webster Financial had 9 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Webster Financial and 4 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. Webster Financial's average media sentiment score of 0.76 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 0.24 indicating that Webster Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Webster Financial	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Webster Financial beats First Financial Bancorp. on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.